Matt Makens, who with his wife is expecting a baby in May, is jobless after being summarily fired from KMGH-Channel 7. He’s still forecasting on Facebook, but he needs a fulltime gig.

In advance of his contract expiring on Dec. 15, the station offered him a one-year deal. Essentially, “a nice way of firing someone,” Makens said. He was given one day to sleep on the idea. The next night, following the newscast at 10:35 p.m., Makens was surprised when he was stripped of his badge, phone and computer and shown the door.

Note the station doesn’t see it that way: “He was offered a new contract and elected to move on,” General Manager Brad Remington said via email.

Makens said if he’d known he was going to be axed, he would have had audition tapes out to potential employers. He has now met with every TV station in town, with no jobs turning up. Currently he’s sitting out his non-compete clause, through June 15.

A view of the 9NEWS KUSA building in Denver on Dec. 18, 2015. (Daniel Petty, The Denver Post)

The February 2016 ratings sweep shows a significant shift in morning viewing in the Denver market. While overall the number of homes using television (HUT) was down, powerhouse KUSA-Channel 9 not only won every morning newscast but was the only station to show year-to-year ratings increases in every weekday morning time period from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.

KWGN-Channel 2’s “Daybreak” was flat; KMGH-Channel 7 and KCNC-Channel 4 were down, according to preliminary figures.

The month’s oddest stat: February saw a 50 percent rating increase for 9News at 4:30 a.m., (I’m told that’s in the wee morning). Are people getting up extra early to beat the increasingly awful traffic? Watching on treadmills? Napping at 4:30 in the afternoon? Who are you people?

David Letterman and Paul Shaffer after the final taping of the Late Show with David Letterman, Wednesday May 20, 2015 on the CBS Television Network. After 33 years in late night television, 6,028 broadcasts, nearly 20,000 total guest appearances, 16 Emmy Awards and more than 4,600 career Top Ten Lists, David Letterman says goodbye to late night television audiences. The show was taped Wednesday at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. (Jeffrey R. Staab, CBS)

The David Letterman finale on CBS Wednesday reached a 10-year ratings high with 13.76 million viewers, beating all primetime programming on CBS nationally.

In Denver, the “Late Show” finale on CBS4 delivered the highest rating of any program this week, reaching over 250,000 total viewers.

Meanwhile, the May numbers are in, and the local snapshot is continued dominance by KUSA-Channel 9, a bright spot in the morning for KCNC-Channel 4, steady growth at KDVR-Channel 31 and, over at KMGH-Channel 7 … well, they’d rather look toward the fall.

While things are bleak at 7News, they’re doing the happy dance at KCNC-Channel 4: for the May sweeps, CBS4 finished No. 2 to KUSA-Channel 9 for the 5-7 a.m. block with a 9 share to 9News’ 14 share. Mornings, where money is made and growth happens these days, is a battle to the hundredths of a point.

Aurora police respond to the Century 16 movie theater early Friday morning, July 20, 2012, in the moments after the Aurora theater shooting. Television media have different plans for how to ccover the trial, which starts April 27. (Denver Post file)

On the eve of what could be a four-month media marathon covering the Aurora theater shooting trial, Denver TV stations on April 26 alerted viewers about what to expect and explained journalistic philosophies. Clearly news executives are shaping coverage plans with audience sensibilities in mind.

Channel 9 posted a video online, narrated by anchor Kyle Clark, advising the audience the station will not carry graphic images from the trial, will not go wall-to-wall on days when nothing unexpected happens. The goal, Clark said, is to keep viewers informed, not overwhelmed.

Setting the gentlest tone, Channel 9 warned about “complex and often mundane psychological issues and terms” that will make the trial difficult to follow. Mundane? That’s difficult to believe ahead of this intensely scrutinized case. Sanity evaluations will be at the heart of the trial.

KMGH-Channel 7 on Thursday named Lindsay Radford news director, effective April 30. She fills a position open for seven months (since Jeff Harris left for Cleveland last August). Radford returns to Denver from the Twin Cities, where she has been news director at KSTP and KSTC in St. Paul/Minneapolis for seven years.

Radford is known for bringing a focus on investigative and enterprise reporting to the Minneapolis stations, boosting the output to 55 hours of newscasts per week, and winning national awards for the effort.

Under her direction, KSTP won the prestigious Peabody Award for its yearlong investigation into military procedures that put service members at risk in Iraq and a National Emmy for its coverage of a deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

Denver’s CBS4 won three top Edward R. Murrow regional honors — for overall excellence, best breaking news and best newscast — the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) announced Tuesday.

The station’s work on the Colorado floods and the depth of coverage were cited in the overall excellence honor. The KCNC entry can be viewed here.

The first day flood coverage won for breaking news. See that entry here. And the CBS4 news at 10 p.m. from the first day of the flood was honored for best newscast. See it here.

The Murrow Awards recognize the best in broadcast journalism. The national awards will be announced in June. Last year, the Denver Post won three national Murrow awards and KUSA won best newscast nationally for coverage of the Aurora theater shootings and KXRM in Colorado Springs won for continuing coverage of the Waldo Canyon fire. The region covers Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.

In this year’s regional round, Denver’s 9News KUSA picked up four honors: for feature reporting, investigative reporting, hard news reporting and use of sound/video. 7News KMGH won for continuing coverage of the “Failing Parole System” and for its website.

Additionally, KOA Radio won the regional honor for overall excellence. Colorado Public Radio won for a documentary, “Remembering John Denver,” and for hard news reporting on how the flooding affected immigrants. Greeley’s KUNC won three: for smaller market radio feature, investigative reporting and hard news reporting.

Among smaller market stations, KKTV in Colorado Springs won for overall excellence, KXRM won for continuing coverage of the Black Forest fire, KRCC won for breaking coverage of the Manitou Springs flooding,

The breakdown of Nielsen’s May sweeps ratings by age group reveals the real scoop on the lucrative late newscasts. While in overall numbers Channel 9 was the only station to show gains at 10 p.m. compared to a year ago, in the demographics (which determine ad rates) Channel 4 is up compared to last year.

Compared to May ’07, KMGH-Channel 7 dropped 21 percent in the Adult 18-54 demographic, the prime target for advertisers, to a 3.1 rating. It’s in fourth place.
KCNC-Channel 4 climbed 13 percent in the same demo, to a 3.5 rating. That’s third place.

KDVR-Channel 31 is in second place with a 3.9 rating for its late (9 p.m.) news, a decline of 15 percent from last May.
KUSA-Channel 9, still the frontrunner, gained 2 percent in the demo year to year, to post a 6.7 rating.

Channel 7 News Director Byron Grandy noted his station had “no ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and no ‘Lost’ finale inside the book. The race is still competitive.”

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.